අගවිනිසුරු අත්අඩංගුවට ?
Police are to reopen the Peradeniya botanical gardens murder investigation after revelations that the alleged mastermind, Rohana Kumara, was close to Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva and posed as his secretary. Ivan sets out the alleged plot with hotelier Lakshmi Kusumalatha against Ranjith Bandara Wijekoon, payments and bank deposits, links to police officers including Ranmal Kodituwakku, and evidence that could expose the Chief Justice to a charge of harbouring a wanted man.
ඡන්දදායකයන් සඳහා හැඳුනුම් පත අනිවාර්ය කිරීම
The Elections Commissioner’s administration report for 2001 recommends making the national identity card compulsory at the polls to stop impersonation, and calls for a commission to probe the violence and misuse of public property at the last parliamentary election. The editorial notes that a select committee held back because about 35 per cent of voters lacked cards, and argues that digital technology now allows cards to be issued to all adults within a month at modest cost.
ජනාධිපතිනියගේ මුක්තිය සීමා කිරීම
The proposed constitutional amendment would limit the President’s immunity, which Ivan welcomes. He argues that a head of state who commits crimes, fraud or wilful breaches of the constitution should be liable to prosecution and lose office on conviction without impeachment, noting that the President ignored the 17th Amendment and used her security staff against opponents under the shelter of immunity.
මංගලගේ හඬා වැළපීම
Mangala Samaraweera and others briefed the Indian High Commissioner on an alleged plot to arrest opposition figures linked to a conspiracy to kill the President. Ivan points out that allegations against the Presidential Security Division, including the attack on Lasantha Wickrematunge, long predate the government’s fall, and says those who fear unfair investigations should seek court restraint rather than complain to diplomats, recalling Samaraweera’s defiance over his Telecom credit card.
ශ්රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයට අහිමි වී තිබෙන ගෞරවය යළි ලබාදිම
The government is appointing a 19-member select committee to review the Human Rights Commission and the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction. Ivan argues the Supreme Court has lost public respect by acting as a political tool of the executive, and that removing Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva is necessary but not enough. He proposes that the Constitutional Council be empowered to investigate serious complaints against superior court judges and recommend impeachment.
පී.එස්.ඩී.යට රජ සැලකිලි
Ivan details favours the President granted to her Presidential Security Division. Its director Nihal Karunaratne was promoted to Superintendent of Police without the required EBE examination through two Cabinet papers, and seven chosen PSD men were given luxury flats in a state-owned Bambalapitiya tower rent free, costing the state Rs 2.6 million a year. He calls this corruption.
ජනාධිපතිනිය චෙක්මේට් වීමට ආසන්නයි
Ivan argues that Chandrika Kumaratunga ruled as a hereditary queen rather than an elected leader, flouted the 17th Amendment in the 2001 election she led, and should have resigned or sought a fresh mandate, or stepped back as D.B. Wijetunga did. Now she is cornered, and he predicts the crisis will cost her the presidency and the Bandaranaikes their hold on the SLFP, and says punishing PA-era crimes, though double-edged, is worthwhile.
විගණන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව කොමිසමක් බවට පත්කිරීම පමණක් ප්රමාණවත් නැත
The editorial welcomes a plan to make the Audit Department an independent commission under the Constitutional Council but says it needs real backing. Limited staff should be focused on powerful institutions such as the presidential and prime minister’s offices, Parliament, the Supreme Court, the army and police, rather than relying on private audits as with the President’s Fund. It also calls for officials to be punished for losses found and for audit findings to be made public promptly.
කිරි කළයේ ගොම
Ivan says that malpractice in some areas has tarnished the government’s deserved local election victory and exposed a hunger for rigging among some of its members. He recalls how Chandrika Kumaratunga’s failure to punish those behind the 1997 malpractices and the North Western Provincial Council poll began her decline, and urges the government to investigate, reprimand offenders, pursue serious PA-era wrongs without revenge, and make people unafraid to oppose it.
මැතිවරණ කොමසාරිස්, වත්කම් බැරකම් නීතිය හා අල්ලස් කොමිසම
Ivan notes that the Elections Commissioner must collect asset declarations from candidates and party office-bearers, and asks whether they were received after the local elections. Requests for copies of the President’s and ministers’ declarations under the previous government were ignored. He points out that the 1994 Bribery Commission Act refers to the outdated 1976 law rather than the 1988 law giving public access, and urges this be fixed and the Commission allowed to act without a complaint.